






v^S^V^ "v^^*V°'' "v^^V^^ "v^P>' 



Brief Sketch of the Naval History 



OF THE 



United States Coast Guard 



WITH 



Citations of Various Statutes Defining 

Its Military Status from 

1790 to 1922 



n 






PRESS OF BYRON S. ADAMS 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 



BRIEF SKETCH OF THE NAVAL HISTORY 



OF THE 



United States Coast Guard 



WITH 



Citations of Various Statutes Defining Its 
Military Status from 1790 to 1922 



The Act of January 28, 1915 (38 Stats., 800), established the 
Coast Guard in lieu of the then existing Revenue-Cutter Ser- 
vice and the Life-Saving Service. That Act expressly provides 
that the Coast Guard "shall constitute a part of the military 
forces of the United States, and shall operate under the Treas- 
ury Department in time of peace, and operate as a part of the 
Navy, subject to the orders of the Secretary of the Navy in 
time of war or when the President shall so direct." It will be 
observed that under the terms of the Act, the Coast Guard op- 
erates as "a part of the Navy" not only in time of war, but 
whenever the President shall so direct. It may also be noted 
that the Coast Guard is defined as "a part of the military forces 
of the United States" whether it be operating under the Treas- 
ury Department or under the Navy Department. 

Of the 270 commissioned officers now authorized by law in 
the Coast Guard, only 13 were acquired from the personnel of 
the former Life-Saving Service. These were the district super- 
intendents who, not formerly commissioned officers, were com- 
missioned as such by the terms of the Act of January 28, 1915. 
That Act gave to the personnel of the former Life-Saving Ser- 
vice the right of retirement and the military status, with its 
privileges and obligations, that already pertained to the Reve- 



nue-Cutter Service. The naval history of the Coast Guard, 
therefore, as well as the legislative history with respect to its 
military status, is a continuation of that of the Revenue-Cutter 
( ' Service. 

After the freedom of the American colonies had been won 
through the War of the Revolution the Continental Navy was 
disbanded. There was then no sea force available for the pro- 
tection of the coasts and the maritime interests of the newly 
constituted United States until the organization of the Revenue- 
Cutter Service under an Act of the First Congress, approved by 
President Washington on August 4, 1790. The cutters formed 
the only armed force afloat belonging to the young Republic 
until a Navy was authorized a few years later. 

The officers of the first cutters were appointed largely from 
the officers who had served in the old Continental Navy. The 
first commission granted by President Washington to any of- 
ficer afloat was issued to Captain Hopley Yeaton of New Hamp- 
shire in the Revenue-Cutter Service. The Act of August 4, 
1790, creating the service provided that the commander of a 
cutter should have the subsistence of a captain in the Army, 
and that the other officers should have the subsistence of a lieu- 
tenant in the Army, and that each enlisted man should have the 
same ration as allowed to a soldier in the Army. The subsis- 
tence was based on that of the Army because the Navy had not 
been established at that time. 

The Act of July 1, 1797, authorized the President to employ 
the cutters to defend the seacoasts and to repel any hostility 
to the vessels and commerce of the United States. It is of in- 
terest to note that the same Act refers to the service of marines 
on board the cutters. 

The Act approved February 25, 1799 "An Act for the aug- 
mentation of the Navy" contained the following: 

"Sec, 3. And be it further enacted. That the President 
of the United States shall be, and is hereby authorized to 
place on the naval establishment, and employ accordingly, 
all or any of the vessels, which, as revenue cutters have 
been increased in force and employed in the defense of the 
seacoasts, pursuant to the Act, entitled 'An Act providing a 
naval armament,' and thereupon, the officers and crews of 
such vessels, may be allowed, at the discretion of the Presi- 
dent of the United States, the pay, subsistence, advantages 



and compensations, proportionably to the rates of such 
vessels, and shall be governed by the rules and discipline 
which are, or which shall be, established for the Navy of 
the United States." 

The Act of March 2, 1799, provided that the crew of a cut- 
ter should consist of not more than 70 men "including non- 
commissioned ofiicers, gunners, and mariners." The same Act 
also provided that the cutters "shall, whenever the President 
of the United States shall so direct, cooperate with the Navy of 
the United States, during which time they shall be under the 
direction of the Secretary of the Navy, and the expense thereof 
shall be defrayed by the agents of the Navy Department." 

Vessels of the Coast Guard have been armed, their crews 
have been drilled, they have had strict naval discipline since 
1790. The Service has played a distinguished part in every war 
in which this country has been engaged, with the exception 
only of the War with Tripoli. 

During the difficulties with France in 1798 and 1799, the 
records show that 8 cutters (1 sloop, 5 schooners, and 2 brigs) 
operated along our southern coast in the Caribbean Sea, and 
among the West India Islands. The 2 brigs, and 2 of the 
schooners carried each 14 guns, and 70 men; the sloop, and the 
other schooners had each 10 guns, and 34 men. Of the 22 prizes 
taken during that period 18 were captured by cutters unaided, 
and they assisted in the capture of 2 others. The cutter Pick- 
ering made two cruises to the West Indies and captured 10 
prizes, one of which carried 44 guns and 200 men — three times 
her own force. 

In the War of 1812, it was a cutter that made the first cap- 
ture during that war. One of the most hotly contested en- 
gagements in the war was between the cutter Surveyor and 
the British frigate Narcissus. Although the Surveyor was 
captured, the British commander considered his opponents to 
have shown so much bravery that he returned on the following 
day to Captain Travis, who commanded the Surveyor, his 
sword accompanied by a letter in which he said : 

"Your gallant and desperate attempt to defend your ves- 
sel against more than double your number excited such ad- 
miration on the part of your opponents as I have seldom 
witnessed, and induced me to return you the sword you 
had so ably used in testimony of mine * * * j am at 



loss which to admire most, the previous arrangement on 
board the Surveyor or the determined manner in which 
her deck was disputed inch by inch." 

The defense of the cutter Eagle against the attack of the 
British brig Dispatch and an accompanying sloop, is one of 
the most dramatic incidents of the War of 1812. The cutter was 
run ashore on Long Island, her guns were dragged up on a high 
bluft\ and from there the crew of the Eagle fought the British 
ships from 9 o'clock in the morning until late in the afternoon. 
When they had exhausted their large shot, they tore up the 
ship's log book to use as wads and fired back the enemy's shot 
which lodged against the hill. During the engagement the cut- 
ter's flag was shot away three times and was as often replaced 
by volunteers from the crew on the hill. 

The piracy which prevailed during the first quarter of the 
nineteenth century in the Gulf of Mexico and along the coasts 
of the territory then recently acquired from France and Spain, 
owed its suppression chiefly to the Bevenue-Cutter Service. The 
officers of that Service waged a relentless war upon the pirates, 
pursued them to their every resort and rendezvous, and at- 
tacked and dispersed them wherever found. 

On August 31, 1819, the cutters Louisiana and Ala- 
bama were boldly attacked off the southern coast of Florida 
by the pirate Bravo, commanded by Jean La Farge, a lieuten- 
ant of the notorious Jean La Fitte. The action was of short 
duration and was terminated by the cutters' boats boarding 
their enemy and carrying his decks in a hand to hand struggle. 

When the vigilance and daring of the cutter officers made 
it too hazardous for the pirates to continue harboring along 
the coast or in the numerous bayous of Louisiana, they estab- 
lished themselves on Bretons Island. Here they were followed 
by the cutters Alabama and Louisiana and driven off in 
their boats, while everything on the island which could afford 
shelter or make it habitable was destroyed. The destruction 
of this rendezvous practically put an end to their harboring on 
the coasts of the United States. But piratical craft from Mexico, 
Central and South America and Cuba, made frequent visits to 
these coasts and the adjoining waters and a number of engage- 
ments took place between them and the cutters. And in over- 
hauling and attacking the pirates, inferiority in armament or 
men was not apparently a consideration. There were instances 
in which pirates were fearlessly attacked and made to strike 



their colors when greatly the superior in force. The capture 
of the Bolivia affords an illustration. This vessel with her 
prizes, the Antoinette and Isabella was attacked and taken in 
South West Pass by the cutter Louisiana on July 6, 1821. In 
number and calibre of guns and in number of men, the pirate 
was much stronger than the Louisiana. 

During the Seminole Indian War (1836-1842) 8 revenue 
cutters took part by cooperation with the Army and Navy in 
the operations. Duty performed by these vessels and their 
crews included attacks on parties of hostile Indians and the 
breaking up of their rendezvous, picking up survivors of mas- 
sacres, carrying dispatches, transporting troops, blocking 
rivers to the passage of the Indian forces, and the landing of 
riflemen and artillery from the cutters for the defense of the 
white settlements. These duties covered the whole coast of 
Florida and won commendation from the Army and Navy of- 
ficers in charge of operations. 

In the War with Mexico 5 cutters were engaged in naval 
operations and performed efficient service in the attacks on 
Alvarado and Tabasco. Excellent work was also done by the 
cutters in connection with the blockading fleet off the Mexican 
coast. 

When a naval force was sent to Paraguay in 1858, the cut- 
ter Harriet Lane was ordered to join the squadron. Commo- 
dore Shubrick, in reporting to the Secretary of the Navy on the 
operations of the expedition, made special mention of the skill 
and zeal shown by Captain Faunce, the commanding officer of 
that cutter, and of her value to the squadron. In the Civil War, 
the Harriet Lane accompanied the fleet intended to relieve Fort 
Sumter, and shared in the capture of Hatteras Inlet. 

The Revenue-Cutter Service participated in the Civil War 
(1861-1865), both in naval engagements and in the more trying 
blockade duty. At the attack on Fort Hatteras ; in the recon- 
naissance of the batteries at Norfolk; in the bombardment of 
Drurys Bluff on the James River; and in operations in Chesa- 
peake Bay the cutters were actively engaged. 

It is not generally known that the famous dispatch sent by 
the Secretary of the Treasury, General John A. Dix, which con- 
tained the direction "If any man attempts to haul down the 
American flag, shoot him on the spot," was transmitted on the 
evening of January 15, 1861, for the purpose of retaining under 
the control of the Federal Government the U. S. Revenue Cutter 
Robert McLelland, then in the port of New Orleans. 



6» 

In the Spanish-American War, the cutters rendered con- 
spicuous service. Eight cutters, carrying 43 guns, were in Ad- 
miral Sampson's fleet, and on the Havana blockade. The 
McCiilloch, carrying 6 guns, and manned by 10 officers and 95 
men, was at the battle of Manila Ray, and subsequently was 
employed by Admiral Dewey as his dispatch boat. At the battle 
of Cardenas, May 11, 1898, the cutter Hudson, Lieutenant 
Frank H. Newcomb, commanding, sustained the fight against 
the gunboats and shore batteries of the enemy side by side with 
the naval torpedo boat Winslow, and when Ensign Bagley and 
half the crew of the latter named vessel had been killed and her 
commander wounded, rescued from certain destruction the ves- 
sel and remainder of the crew under the furious fire of the 
enemy's guns. In recognition of this act of heroism, upon the 
recommendation of the President of the United States, Con- 
gress authorized, by Joint Resolution approved May 3, 1900, 
that a gold medal be presented to Lieutenant Newcomb, a sil- 
ver medal to each of his officers, and a bronze medal to each 
member of his crew. 

On the morning of April 6, 1917, a code dispatch was sent 
from Washington by radio and by land wire to every ship and 
shore station of the Coast Guard. Within a few hours there- 
after the entire Coast Guard, officers and enlisted men, vessels 
and units of all sorts, passed into the naval establishment as 
provided by law and began operating as a part of the Navy of 
the United States. The Navy was thus instantly augmented by 
223 experienced and highly trained commissioned officers, ap- 
proximately 4500 experienced and competent warrant officers 
and enlisted men, 47 vessels of all classes, and 279 stations 
scattered along the entire coast line of the United States. 

In August and September, 1917, six Coast Guard cutters, 
the Ossipee, Seneca, Yamacraw, Algonquin, Manning and 
Tampa, left the United States to join our naval forces in Euro- 
pean waters. They constituted Squadron 2 of Division 6 of the 
patrol forces of the Atlantic Fleet and were based on Gibraltar. 
Throughout the war they escorted hundreds of vessels between 
Gibraltar and the British Isles, and also performed escort and 
patrol duty in the Mediterranean. The other cruising cutters 
performed escort and patrol duty in home waters, on important 
missions to Rermuda, the Azores Islands, in the Caribbean Sea> 
and off the coast of Nova Scotia, and operated generally under 
the orders of the commandants of the various naval districts, 
or under the direct orders of the Chief of Naval Operations. 



Nothing can be more conclusive of the professional ability 
of Coast Guard officers and of the confidence that the Navy De- 
partment imposed in them than the fact that of the 138 com- 
missioned line officers of the Coast Guard, 24 commanded com- 
batant ships of the Navy in the war zone in European waters, 
5 commanded combatant ships attached to the American Pa- 
trol detachment in the Caribbean Sea, and 23 commanded com- 
batant ships attached to naval districts. Five Coast Guard of- 
ficers commanded large training camps. Six officers performed 
aviation duty, two of them being in command of important air 
stations, one of these in France. Shortly after the armistice, 
four Coast Guard officers were assigned to the command of 
large naval transports engaged in bringing home the troops 
from France. The Navy Department, naturally enough, as- 
signed to the command of combatant ships only officers in 
whom the Department had implicit confidence. The large pro- 
portion of Coast Guard officers assigned to command duty is 
impressive. 

Officers not assigned to command served in practically 
every phase of naval activity — on transports, on cruisers, cut- 
ters, patrol vessels, in naval districts, as inspectors, at training 
camps — and were of great value because they required no 
training and were possessed of professional ability and large 
experience. Officers of engineering ability and experience were 
urgently needed, and the 70 commissioned engineer officers of 
the Coast Guard contributed greatly toward filling that need. 
Five Coast Guard officers performed responsible and impor- 
tant duty at the Navy Department in Washington. One of the 
two pilots of the hydroplane NC-4 that made the first trans- 
Atlantic flight was a Coast Guard officer. Lieutenant Comman- 
der E. F. Stone. 

These Coast Guard officers were not appointed temporarily 
in the Navy, or in the Naval Reserve Force, but served under 
their commissions as Coast Guard officers. Of the 223 com- 
missioned officers of the Coast Guard, seven met their deaths 
during the war as a result of enemy action, or 3.14 per cent of 
the entire commissioned strength. 

The Coast Guard Cutter Tampa sailed from New York on 
September 15, 1917, for service in European waters, under the 
command of Captain Charles Satterlee, U. S. Coast Guard. 
She proceeded to Gibraltar via the Azores Islands and was as- 
signed to duty with the division of vessels escorting convoys 
from Gibraltar to England. On September 5, 1918, Rear Ad- 



8 • 

miral Niblack, commanding the U. S. naval forces based on Gi- 
braltar, addressed a special letter of commendation to the com- 
manding officer of the Tampa. He called attention therein to 
the fact that since the Tampa's arrival on that station she had 
escorted 18 convoys between Gibraltar and the United King- 
dom, was never disabled, and was ready whenever called upon, 
and that only one request for repairs, and this for two minor 
items, had been received from her. Admiral Niblack stated: 
"This excellent record is an evidence of a high state of ef- 
ficiency and excellent ship's spirit and an organization capable 
of keeping the vessel in service with a minimum of short as- 
sistance. The squadron commander takes great pleasure in 
congratulating the commanding officer, officers, and crew on 
the record which they have made." 

On the evening of September 26, 1918, the Tampa, having 
acted as ocean escort for a convoy from Gibraltar to the United 
Kingdom, and having completed her duty as ocean escort, pro- 
ceeded, in accordance with her instructions, toward the port of 
Milford Haven, Wales. At 8.45 p.m. a loud explosion was heard 
by persons on vessels of the convoy. The Tampa failed to ar^ 
rive at her destination and search was made for her by U. S. 
destroyers and British patrol craft. Nothing was found except 
a small amount of wreckage identified as belonging to the 
Tampa and two unidentified bodies in naval uniforms. It is 
believed that the Tampa was sunk by a German submarine, 
and it is said that the German submarine U-53 claimed to have 
sunk a United States vessel of her description. It is understood 
that the "listening-in" stations on shore had detected the pres- 
ence of an enemy submarine in the vicinity of the place where 
the Tampa was destroyed at the time the explosions were 
heard. 

Every officer and man on board the Tampa perished — 115 
in all, of whom 111 were Coast Guard personnel. With the ex- 
ception of the Cyclops, whose fate has never been ascertained, 
this was the largest loss of life incurred by any U. S. naval unit 
during the war. Vice Admiral C. H. Dare of the British Navy, 
the commanding officer at Milford Haven, in a telegram to Ad- 
miral Sims expressing the universal sympathy felt at Milford 
Haven by all ranks and rates in the loss of the Tampa said : 

"Myself and staff enjoyed the personal friendship of her 
commanding officer, Captain Charles Satterlee and had 



9 

great admiration for his intense enthusiasm and high 
ideals of duty." 

The British Admiralty addressed a letter to Admiral Sims 
as follows: 

"Their Lordships desire me to express their deep regret 
at the loss of the U. S. S. Tampa. Her record since she has 
been employed in European waters as an ocean escort to 
convoys has been remarkable. She has acted in the ca- 
pacity of ocean escort to no less than 18 convoys from Gi- 
braltar comprising 350 vessels, with a loss of only two 
ships through enemy action. The commanders of the con- 
voys have recognized the ability with which the Tampa 
carried out the duties of ocean escort. Appreciation of the 
good work done by the U. S. S. Tampa may be some con- 
solation to those bereft and Their Lordships would be glad 
if this could be conveyed to those concerned." 

One of the modern destroyers of the Navy has been named 
for Captain Satteflee, and on April 16, 1921, a new cruising ves- 
sel of the Coast Guard was launched at Oakland, Calif., and 
named the Tampa. 

Those enlisted men of the Coast Guard who went down 
with the Tampa did not go into the War Zone through the pro- 
cess of enlisting in the Navy, or in the Naval Reserve Force, or 
by volunteering for naval duty. They went because they were 
enlisted men of the Coast Guard, and therefore subject to the 
military duty of the Coast Guard for which they had enlisted, 
and for which they had been trained. 



10 . 

Ranks and titles of line officers of the Coast Guard are pre- 
cisely the same, in so far as they go, as those of corresponding 
officers of the line of the Navy. Line officers of the Coast Guard 
are trained as cadets in practically the same manner as line of- 
ficers of the Navy are trained as midshipmen. Engineer officers 
of the Coast Guard, appointed first as cadet engineers after a 
rigorous professional examination, undergo a thorough course 
of training, including instruction in military duties, before be- 
ing commissioned. 

The grades of warrant officers, chief petty officers, petty 
officers, and enlisted men of the Coast Guard are precisely the 
same as those of the Navy, in so far as the duties of the Coast 
Guard may require. The Coast Guard has the rating of surf- 
man, which the Navy does not have, because of the surf work 
necessary to be performed at Coast Guard stations, a need 
which does not exist in the Navy. Warrant officers in the Coast 
Guard are appointed in exactly the same way as warrant of- 
ficers are appointed in the Navy, and under the same standards. 
Chief petty officers and petty officers in the Coast Guard are ap- 
pointed and rated under the same standards as in the Navy, 
and after examinations of the same character and scope. 

Vessels of the Coast Guard are armed with guns of 5-inch 
calibre and below, and are supplied with the equipment neces- 
sary for landing forces. All naval drills, including target prac- 
tice, that are practicable on small vessels operating singly are 
carried out. The personnel of the Coast Guard are trained and 
drilled to take up at a moment's notice the important duty im- 
posed upon the Service by statute law of becoming a part of 
the Navy in time of war or whenever the President shall so 
direct. 

The above is only a brief sketch of some of the operations 
of the Coast Guard in war. The Coast Guard is the "Peace and 
War service." Its duties in time of peace are but little less ar- 
duous and hazardous than they are in time of war. It is an 
interesting fact that this service, with such a notable military 
history, has also established a record that is unequaled for hu- 
manitarian accomplishment in affording succor to those in dis- 
tress at sea. The following figures for the fiscal year 1921 will 
suggest the magnitude of this activity of the Coast Guard in 
time of peace — one of the many duties with which the service 
is charged: 



11 

Lives saved or persons rescued from peril 1,621 

Persons on board vessels assisted 14,013 

Value of vessels assisted (including cargoes) $66,260,445 

Value of derelicts recovered and delivered to owners $1,163,435 
Derelicts and other obstructions to navigation re- 
moved or destroyed 19 



12 • 

Certain Statutes other than those above cited bearing on the 

military status of the coast guard with an opinion 

OF THE Attorney General thereon. 

On May 13, 1920, the Attorney General of the United States 
rendered an opinion that persons who are honorably dis- 
charged from their enhstments in the Coast Guard, after ser- 
vice under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department dur- 
ing a time of peace, should be considered within the class of 
"honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines" to whom 
preference in appointments is allowed by the Act of July 11, 
1919. The following are quotations from the opinion of the 
Attorney General : 

"The Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stats., 402), contains the 
following language : 

" 'The term "military or naval forces" means the Army, 
the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, the Naval 
Reserves, the National Naval Volunteers, and any other 
branch of the United States service while serving pursuant 
to law with the Army or the Nav}^' " 

"It will be noted that in this language it is provided that 
any branch of the United States service other than those 
specifically mentioned is covered by the term 'military or 
naval forces' only when that branch is serving, pursuant 
to law, with the Army or the Navy." 

"As the Coast Guard is distinctly declared to be a part 
of the military service of the United States, and as it is in 
the active service of the United States at all times, I am of 
the opinion, therefore, that each of the questions pro- 
pounded by the Civil Service Commission should be an- 
swered in the affirmative, and that members of such Coast 
Guard honorably discharged under the conditions stated 
in each question, should be considered within the class of 
'honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines,' to 
whom preference is allowed by the Act of July 11, 1919." 

The following is a verbatim quotation from the opinion of 
the Attorney General above referred to in which he cites a 
number of Acts enacted in recent years indicating the intent 
of Congress with respect to the status of the Coast Guard : 

"The Act of March 3, 1915 (38 Stats., 931), empowers the 
President to prepare a suitable medal of honor to be 



13 

awarded to any officer of the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast 
Guard who shall have distinguished himself in battle or 
displayed extraordinary heroism in the line of his pro- 
fession. 

"The Naval Appropriation Act of August 29, 1916 (39 
Stats., 600), provides: 

" 'Whenever, in time of war, the Coast Guard operates 
as a part of the Navy in accordance with law, the personnel 
of that service shall be subject to the laws prescribed for 
the government of the Navy : Provided, That in the initia- 
tion, prosecution, and completion of disciplinary action, 
including remission and mitigation of punishments for any 
oifense committed by any officer or enlisted man of the 
Coast Guard, the jurisdiction shall hereafter depend upon 
and be in accordance with the laws and regulations of the 
department having jurisdiction of the person of such of- 
fender at the various stages of such action : Provided, fur- 
ther. That any punishment imposed and executed in ac- 
cordance with the provisions of this section shall not ex- 
ceed that to which the offender was liable at the time of 
the commission of his offense.' 

"Under this Act an enlisted man of the Coast Guard who 
committed a military offense prior to April 6, 1917, while 
the Coast Guard was operating under the Treasury Depart- 
ment, if time had not permitted his being brought to trial 
by a Coast Guard court before that date, could be subse- 
quently tried by a naval court-martial. Also, an enlisted 
man of the Coast Guard who committed a military offense 
while the Coast Guard was operating as a part of the Navy, 
if time had not permitted his being brought to trial by a 
naval court-martial before August 28, 1919, when the Coast 
Guard was turned back to the Treasury Department, 
could be brought to trial, subsequent to that date, by a 
Coast Guard court. Such a man was admittedly in a mili- 
tary status — a 'sailor of the United States' — while operat- 
ing as a part of the Navy. If, after August 28, 1919, he is 
not in a military status, and no longer a 'sailor of the 
United States' it is not thought that Congress would have 
provided, in the Act of August 28, 1916, that he could be 
tried and punished for a military offense committed while 
he was in such status. 

"The Act of August 29, 1916 (39 Stats., 582), provides that 
the prohibition against receiving more than one salary 
from the Government, when the combined amount of said 
salaries exceeds the sum of $2,000 per annum, shall not 



14 • 

apply to retired officers or enlisted men of the Army, Navy, 
Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. 

"The Act of August 29, 1916 (39 Stats., 600, 601), author- 
izes the Secretaries of War and Navy, at the request of the 
Secretary of the Treasury, to receive officers and enlisted 
men of the Coast Guard for instruction in aviation at any 
aviation school maintained by the Army and Navy. 

"The Act of August 29, 1916 (39 Stats., 649), provides that 
section 125 of the Act of June 3, 1916 (39 Stats., 216), rela- 
tive to the protection of the uniform shall apply to the 
Coast Guard in the same manner as to the Army, Navy, 
and Marine Corps. 

"The Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stats., 391), providing 
for the reimbursement of officers, enlisted men, and others 
in the naval service for the loss or destruction of their per- 
sonal property and effects due to the operations of war or 
by shipwreck or other marine disaster extends the pro- 
visions of the Act to the personnel of the Coast Guard in 
like manner as to the personnel of the Navy, whether the 
Coast Guard is operating under the Treasury Department 
or operating as a part of the Navy. 

"The Act of July 1, 1918 (40 Stats., 717, 731, 732) , provides 
for the assignment to active duty and promotion of any 
commissioned or warrant officer of the Navy, Marine 
Corps, or Coast Guard on the retired list during the exis- 
ence of war or of a national emergenc3^ The same Act 
provides for temporary promotions during the present war 
of certain officers of the Coast Guard to the same rank and 
grade in the Coast Guard not above captain and captain 
of engineers as correspond to the rank and grade that may 
be attained in accordance with law either permanently or 
temporarily by line officers of the Regular Navy of the 
same length of total service. 

"The Act of July 1, 1918 (40 Stats., 640), provides that ca- 
dets in the Coast Guard shall receive the same pay and al- 
lowances as are now or may hereafter be provided by law 
for midshipmen in the Navy. 

"The Act of July 11, 1918 (41 Stats., 139), provides for the 
payment of mileage to all enlisted men of the Navy, and 
Coast Guard discharged under certain conditions and ex- 
tends certain privileges regarding reenlistment to enlisted 
men of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard." 

The Naval Appropriation Act of August 31, 1852, allowed 
to the officers, seamen, and marines of the Navy, and to the 



15 

officers and men of the Revenue-Cutter Service, who served in 
the Pacific Ocean on tlie coast of California and Mexico since 
September 28, 1850, the same increased compensation as had 
been allowed by law to the officers and soldiers of the Army 
who served in California. 

The Act of February 28, 1867 (14 Stats., 416), provided that 
from and after December 31, 1866, each officer of the Revenue- 
Cutter Service, while on duty, should be entitled to one Navy 
ration per day. 

The Act of February 19, 1879 (20 Stats., 316), referring to 
the payment of 3 months' extra pay to the officers and soldiers 
of the Mexican War provided : 

"That the provisions of this Act shall include also the 
officers, petty officers, seamen, and marines of the United 
States Navy, the Revenue Marine Service (Revenue-Cutter 
Service) and the officers and soldiers of the United States 
Ariny employed in the prosecution of said war." 

Section 1492 of the Revised Statutes gave officers of the 
Revenue-Cutter Service rank with officers of the Navy when 
serving as a part of the Navy. 

The Act of April 12, 1902 (32 Stats., 100), gave officers of 
the Revenue-Cutter Service actual rank with officers of the 
Army and officers of the Navy at all times. Their pay was 
based on that of the Army by that Act as follows : 

"Sec. 3. That the commissioned officers of the United 
States Revenue-Cutter Service shall hereafter receive the 
same pay and allowances, except forage, as are now or 
may hereafter be provided by law for officers of corres- 
ponding rank in the Army including longevity pay." 

The Act of April 16, 1908 (35 Stats., 61), authorized in the 
Revenue-Cutter Service one captain commandant "with the 
rank of a colonel in the Army and a captain in the Navy, and 
who shall have the pay and allowances of a colonel in the 
Army;" six senior captains "each with the rank of a lieutenant 
colonel in the Army and a commander in the Navy, and who 
shall each have the pay and allowances of a lieutenant colonel 
in the Army;" one engineer in chief "with the rank of a lieuten- 
ant colonel in the Army and a commander in the Navy, and who 
shall have the pay and allowances of a lieutenant colonel in 



16 • 

the Army;" and six senior engineers "each with the rank of a 
major in the Army and a lieutenant commander in the Navy 
and who shall each have pay and allowances of a major in 
the Army." 

The pay and allowances of officers of the Coast Guard con- 
tinued to be based entirely on those of officers of the Army un- 
til the Act of July 1, 1918 (40 Stats., 733), authorized, during the 
period of the war, the same increase of pay and allowances to 
officers of the Coast Guard on sea duty or on shore duty be- 
yond the continental limits of the United States as provided 
by law for officers of the Navy of corresponding rank. 

This status continued until, by virtue of Section 8 of the 
Act of May 18, 1920, the pay and allowances of Coast Guard of- 
ficers were made the same as those of officers of the Navy of 
corresponding grades and length of service. 

The pay of warrant officers, petty officers, and enlisted 
men of the Coast Guard was made the same as that of corres- 
ponding grades or ratings and length of service in the Navy 
for the duration of the war, by the Act of May 22, 1917 (40 
Stats., 87), and this parity with the Navy was made permanent 
by the Act of May 18, 1920. The enlisted force of the Coast 
Guard are regularly enlisted in precisely the same manner as 
are the men of the Navy, and they are subject to court-martial, 
to imprisonment for desertion, and to such punishments, within 
the law, for infractions of discipline, as may be imposed upon 
them by courts composed of Coast Guard officers. Such courts, 
under the law, must "be governed in their organization and 
procedure substantially in accordance with naval courts" (34 
Stats., 200). 



89 i 







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